Tier 3+ - Accidental Champion (Book 2) - Chapter 44 - Little Anomaly’s Death

Title Unlocked!

Level 100: This is a common title that everyone receives when they reach Level 100.

You have received +20 to all stats!

Title Unlocked!

First to Level 100: You are the first person from your world to reach Level 100.

You have received +100 to all stats!

That’s insane, Xavier thought. All just for gaining Level 100?

He shook the thought away, focusing on the problem at hand. He had barely two minutes until the Lord of the Endless Horde arrived, and he needed to advance to E Grade—a process that could take several minutes—before that happened.

And apparently, he wasn’t able to initiate the transformation while in combat.

Not only that, I’ll have another class to choose. Will I even have any time to go over the options?

Hell—assuming he even survived the transformation—he probably wouldn’t be able to choose his upgraded class while in combat with the Lord of the Endless Horde.

Of course I won’t be…

If only he had just a little more time.

Xavier snapped into action. As far as he was concerned, he didn’t have a choice. There was only one viable option in front of him.

He had to run.

He’d been aboard one of the flying ships as all these thoughts swirled through his mind. He was beginning to notice some of the other vessels that had been heading his way were abruptly turning around, making a run for it after they’d seen the sheer devastation.

At least some of these people have some sense.

Something inside of him flared at the sight of them running. A primal sensation took over, making him want to run after them. Hunt them. Kill them. Like a predator seeing prey flee. He clamped that feeling down and leapt off the ship’s deck. As he fell, he balanced the energy in his cores, preventing his aura from shooting out.

He needed to get out of combat, find somewhere safe to advance, and hope it wouldn’t take too long. If his aura could be felt, it would be like a beacon leading the lord straight to him.

Where will the Lord of the Endless Horde appear? Right in front of wherever I am?

He sprinted down the wide street, tall buildings rising up on either side of him. A quick glance over his shoulder showed none of the enemy ships were in pursuit. He could no doubt take them all out with a single Soul Strike, but no way he was going to waste any souls right now, or put the spell into cooldown.

They aren’t chasing me. They’re no longer relevant.

The System must consider him outside of combat by now, but he wasn’t exactly safe in the middle of the street. He ducked into an alley, figuring it was the best place for him to hide. Part of him wished he’d snagged some of the Denizens from those ships as thralls. Had them to protect him while he would no doubt be defenceless, but there were two glaring issues with that plan.

First, he doubted he would be able to hold control of them during the transformation. And second, even if he did manage to remain in control, they wouldn’t stand a chance against the D Grade monster he was about to face.

Xavier wasn’t much for prayer. Well, he wasn’t anythingfor prayer. The thought of asking a deity for help had entered his mind before, when the goal of reaching Level 100 in time had seemed out of reach. But he’d done it. On his own. He hadn’t needed any damned help.

But that was when he could stand on his own two feet and fight. What was going to happen when he couldn’t fight? When he was stuck in this transformation? Would it make him convulse and fall to the ground? When the Lord of the Endless Horde found him, would the man simply kill him in an instant?

He’s not going to just wait for me.

The Lord of the Endless Horde will arrive in 1 minutes and 33 seconds.

Xavier swallowed his pride. He put his back to the alley wall, sunk down into a crouch, clutching Soultaker’s haft in a vice grip, and shut his eyes. Before he activated the transformation, he whispered a swift prayer.

“If anyone is out there, anyone listening, please help me get through this. If you do, I’ll owe you—” Xavier paused. He’d been about to say, I’ll owe you my life. It seemed like what one would say in his current position. But he didn’t want to agree to such terms. He didn’t want to shackle his freedom to another’s will.

Hell, he didn’t even want to ask for help—he was simply feeling desperate.

So he left it at that. I’ll owe you. It seemed like more than enough, and all he was willing to offer.

“All right. Let’s get this started then,” he muttered. A thrill of excitement ran through him as he activated the transformation.

Are you sure you wish to activate your advancement from F Grade to E Grade? If you have not prepared your body, mind, and cores appropriately, your attributes, spells, and skills might be damaged, or the transformation may cause your death.

One cannot walk backward on the path.

Xavier stared at the notification for five whole seconds after he’d read it. This… this could cause his death? No one had told him that. If it were something Adviser Kalren knew, the man had kept it to himself.

He bit his lip. It wasn’t as though he had another choice. And how much more prepared could he be?

Yes, he willed. I’m sure.

A bright light enveloped Xavier. His entire body convulsed. He lost awareness of everything around him.

~

Empress Larona floated in the black, amongst the stars. She could See so much from here. A deep frown was set upon her face. She was worried. The future she envisioned—the future she was aiming for—it felt as though the very threads of fate did not wish it to come to pass.

Something invaded her awareness.

A plea for help?

She recognised where it was coming from.

The young one.

A smile twisted the sides of her lips. Somehow, this man had tugged on the connection that had been made between them when she’d observed him, sending his prayer through it across the stars.

Not just across the stars, either—he is on a tower floor.

This intrigued her greatly, but she could not respond to his plea. She was the most powerful Denizen in her entire sector, but that did not mean she had the ability to influence what happened on a tower floor. All she could do was observe it. Though even that was a great feat for someone of her grade.

Yet this brought her great pleasure, for she could see what he had done—what danger he had gotten himself into.

He has taken the hard path.

The hard path was the only one that would lead him toward The End. The line that she’d followed the first time she’d observed him… it wasn’t so faint as it had once been.

Even if I could help you, Xavier Collins, I dare not influence your next step on the path.

~

A monster of a man strolled across his rooftop garden, gathering magical herbs and throwing them into a cauldron at the centre of the courtyard. He could have instructed literally anyone to do this task for him, but he enjoyed small labours such as this.

In the eons that he had lived, he had learnt much. Mastered much. Often there was little else to do when the years drift by like dust on the wind. The passing of time was inevitable, and he had long discovered that he could not lose himself to mindless pleasures—they did not bring fulfilment, only fleeting moments of joy.

Fleeting moments of joy were nothing when you lived for an eternity.

The man cocked his head to the side, as though he’d heard something. He grunted, instantly realising what it was.

He chuckled. A plea for help, from the Child from Earth.

Perhaps you are not what I thought you would be…

He sighed.

His eyes widened as he slipped into the Tower of Champions and to one of its floors, observing what the young one was doing. Time seemed to stop as he did so—the flow of time was different where the baby True Progenitor was, and his mind compensated for that.

How…?

The young one had reached Level 100.

Not possible.

Even stranger was the fact that he was only on the fourth floor of the Tower of Champions. The monster of a man remembered that floor. His memory stretched far back, and though there were gaps, it was almost perfect.

The Endless Horde. He’s trying to take it out.

This… this was interesting. Perhaps the most interesting thing that had happened in the last few billions of years. He tilted his head to the side. Though it was a shame the young one’s life was about to come to an end.

I could not help you, even if I wished.

He sighed once more.

I suppose there is no reason to send Adranial to this sector at the edges of the Greater Universe after all.

He sat on a bench in his garden, the herbs and cauldron all but forgotten—he’d been making an alchemical potion for his favourite descendent, before she returned from her own Tower of Champions and he sent her on this journey.

It was time to observe this little anomaly’s death.